Tilting blow box



1950 w. BAKKER 2,947,029

TILTING BLOW BOX Filed Feb. 7, 1956 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L ry jo 26' INVENTOR Willem Bakker ATTORNEYS Aug. 2, 1960 Filed Feb. 7, 1956 w. BAKKER 2,947,029 TILTING BLOW BOX 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR Willem flaMer WWW/W ATTORNEYS Un e s.

. 2,947,029 as BL BO 1 WillemBakker, Arnhem, Netherlands, assignor'to Amer ican Enka Corporation, Enka, N.C.,a corporation of Delaware v mits Feb. 7, 1956,,Ser. No. 564,059

Claims priority, application Netherlands Feb. 15, 1955 I 2 Claims; unis-s This invention relates to meltspinning and more particularly to an improvement in a spinning chamber blow.

box assembly of the type into which melt spun threads or yarns arelextruded forinitial hardening. I

In melt spinning it has been found desirable-to 'extrude intoa'spinning. chamberlhaving two sidewalls interconnected by. .an integral back ,wall' and perforate wall ,or platefandto, supply.air..to the chamber fron'r'a blow box through the perforate wall. With such a structure enveloping the path of the freshly extruded thread, good uniformity of hardening-is achieved. However, with such an arrangement, during spinning in the spinneret or orifice plate is not easily accessible to the op erators. In an attempt to overcome this difficulty, it has been proposed to pivotally attach theside walls to the perforated wall of the spinning chamber so that the side walls can be swung aside during spinning in. While this scheme'aifords the necessary access for positioning or spinneret 11. The chamber-blow box assembly is generally designated by numeral 12 and is comprised of sideleg-likemembers 27-and 28 project in parallel relation from the; bottom or -lower end of the assembly 12. These the assem bly lz is'rotated clockwise from the broken to the full line positionsof Figure 1 it moves up slightly into of a spinneret and for spinning in, the lack of a seal between the side walls and the perforated wall results in air leakage which deleteriously affects the properties of the spun threads.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the foregoing difliculties and to provide a spinning cham-' may be had for installation of the spinneret, for spinning in or otherwise as needed.

his proposed according to the present invention to provide a rigid spinning chamber-blow box assembly and bodily to pivot the same for movement between a position afli'ording access to the spinneret or spinning plate for spinning in and an operating position sealed against the surface of the spinning assembly surrounding the spinning orifices and the thread path therefrom; This movement is accomplished according to the present invention without any part of the assembly intercepting any portion of the path of the newly spun thread.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of embodiments thereof in conjunction with the annexed drawings wherein:

Figure l is a view partially in elevation and partially in section showing in full lines the spinning chamber and blow box of the present invention in the position assumed during normal spinning operations and, in broken lines, the position which the box assumes when access to the spinning plate is required, as in spinning in;

Figure 2. is a view in section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing an internal modification of the spinning chamber.

Referring now in greater detail to Figures 1 and 2, the numeral 10 designates the spinning assembly from which the melt is extruded (see arrow) in known manner through centrally disposed orifices in a spinning plate walls 13 and 14 interconnected by-an integral wall 15 atone end audterminatingin flanges 16" and 17 at the respective other .ends. Extending between side walls13 andl14 are three perforated plates 18, 19 and 20 which are hermeticallysealed at their margins to the side Walls 13, and 14. -The.plates 18, 19 and 20 subdivide the assembly -12 into a spinning chamber 21 and blow box 22.- The blow box isv supplied with air through a con-' duit 23'havingtherein a damper type valve 24. The conduit 23 connects to'a bottom plate 25 constitutinga part of the, blow box 12. The bottom of the spinning;

chamber; 21 is open to permit threads to leave the chamber, and enter the spinning well 26 therebelow. Two

legs-pivot on a shaft 29 that is supported ina bracket 30held froma main part ofthemachine frame. The axis of. pivot'forlegs 27 and 28 is so chosen that when sealing' engagement with-the-under surface of the assembly 10. This is accomplished in accordance with the present invention by locating the pivot point forward of the chamber 21, or on the side of the thread path opposite from the perforated plates 18,.19 and 20. An asbestos washer 34 supported by the upper edge of assembly 12 may be used as a sealing gasket and to prevent excessive heat conduction from the assembly 10 to the assembly 12.

It will be noted that the spinning chamber 21 and blow box 22 are defined to some extent by common parts and that the assembly 12 is a rigid self-sustaining structure completely free of leakage. Thus the path of air flow from the blow box 22 into and through the spinning chamber is accurately controlled. On the other hand, by bodily rotating the assembly 12 to the broken line position of Figure 1, easy access is had to the spinning plate or plates as may be required during spinning in.

The three screens or perforate plates 18, 19 and 20 serve accurately to orient cooling air flow for movement transversely of the chamber 21 and out of the open back of that chamber. The threads leaving the chamber 21 pass through the well 26 to collection, not shown.

To adapt the spinning chamber 21 to handle more than one separate thread, baflies extending parallel to the side walls of the chamber may be used. A typical arrangement of these is shown in Figure 3. The baflies are designated by numerals 31, 32 and 33. Since the structure depicted in Figure 3 is otherwise the same as that shown in Figure 2, like numerals are used to designate like parts. By the arrangement of Figure 3 a single assembly 12 can serve four spinning positions, one in each of the compartments into which the chamber 21 is divided by the partitions 31, 32 and 33. These four positions are disposed along a radial line of spinneret 11, which line extends normal to the plane of the paper as viewed in Figure 1. The baffles prevent the separate threads from creating mutually interfering turbulence.

While the front wall of the assembly 12 is shown as full open (this is the right side of the assembly as viewed in Figures 1 and 2) a screen wall can be used to close it if desired.

Upon spinning in, the assembly .12 is tilted about pivot 29 from the full line position of Figure 1 to the dotted line'position, which provides unobstructed access to the spinning assembly 10 for installation or cleaning of a spinneret 11, for temporary collection of unsatisfactory portions of freshly extruded filaments in a manner known to the art, and for eventual threading in of the filaments. After threading in has been completed, the assembly 12 7 2,947,029 Patented Aug. 2; 1960 1 is pivoted to the full line position where it may be locked by latch means (not shown).

Inasmuch as other modifications will become apparent to those skilled in this art, it is intended that the scope of this invention be limited only to the-extent set forth-in the following claims. 7 I

What is claimed is: r I

1. A melt spinning apparatus comprising'an-extrus'ionassembly having a spinning plate for -'extruding"a plu-' rality of threads in adjacent parallel patlisfa-pair of side walls and an integral back wall defining an elongated chamber, at least one perforated plate hermetically sealed at the edges thereof to said side Walls and through which} a gaseous medium is supplied to cool saidlthreads, the elongated chamber being disposed coaxially beneath said spinning plate and movable both axially-and'radially withrespect thereto from an operative position wherein the upper edge of said chamber is urged in sealed relationship against said extrusion assembly and said walls sur round the thread path to an inoperative unsealed position wherein the upper edge of said chamber is spaced axially and radially from said extrusion assembly and said walls are displaced laterally with respect to said thread path, a leg attached to and depending from the lower edge of each sidewall of said elongated chamber, said legs being disposed on the forward side of said thread path opposite from said back wall and said perforated 4 plate, brackets engaging said legs and pivotally supporting said elongated chamber for movement between said operative and inoperative positions, the pivotal axis be ing sufficiently forward of the elongated chamber to provide the aforesaid radial and axial movement, and means to seal the upper edge of said elongated chamber to said extrusion assembly in the operative position thereof to prevent escape of the gaseous cooling medium while permitting pivotal movement of the chamber to References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,427,014 Pa'zsiczky Aug. 22, 1922 1,933,607 Taylor Nov. 7, 1933 2,273,105 Heckert Feb. 17, 1942 2,303,338 Dreyfuset a1. Dec. 1, 1942 2,688,067 Sonnino et a1. Aug. 31, 1954 

